Smeargle

Smeargle
File:Smeargle.png National Pokédex Stantler - Smeargle (#235) - Tyrogue Johto Pokédex Mr. Mime - Smeargle (#157) - Farfetch'd
Japanese name	Doble
Evolves from	None
Evolves into	None
Generation	Second
Species	Painter Pokémon
Type	Normal
Height	3 ft 11 in (1.2 m)
Weight	128.0 pounds (58.1 kg)
Ability	Own Tempo/Technician (the latter from Pokemon Diamond and Pearl onwards)

Smeargle (ドーブル, Dōburu, Doble in original Japanese language versions) is one of the Template:Pokenum fictional species of Pokémon from the Pokémon Franchise – a series of video games, anime, manga, books, trading cards and other media created by Satoshi Tajiri.

Smeargle is the painter of the Pokémon world and is best known for its "Sketch" attack, unique among Pokémon skills. The name Smeargle is a portmanteau of the words smear, as applied to painting, and beagle, a breed of dog. Its Japanese name is a portmanteau of dog and dabble. The name is also a homonym of Smeagol, the creature in The Lord of the Rings that shares some physical characteristics.

Biological characteristics

Smeargle looks like a bipedal beagle with a cranial structure resembling an artist's cap (or beret) and a long, possibly prehensile tail which ends in a tuft of fur similar to a paintbrush. The tuft is continuously soaked by a special colored fluid secreted from the tip of the Smeargle's tail.

The color of the fluid is predetermined and, one could assume, unique for every Smeargle. The Smeargle uses this hard-to-remove fluid as a pigment to mark the boundaries of its territory and print its footprints on the backs of its fellows once they reach maturity. The markings that Smeargle leaves around the boundaries of its territory have a consistent pattern of some sort to them, as in, they are not completely random; over 5000 distinctive marks have been found.

In the video games

Availability

• In Pokémon Gold, Silver, and Crystal, Smeargle can be found in a small patch of grass near the Ruins of Alph.
• In Pokémon Colosseum, it can be snagged in the Team Snagem Hideout after snagging the final Johto starter in the Shadow Pokémon Laboratory.
• In Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen, Smeargle may be found inside the Altering Cave in the Sevii Islands area through use of the an E-card in the e-Reader. This was exclusive to Japan only, as e-Reader support was removed for the international release.
• In Pokémon Emerald, Smeargle can be found in the Artisan Cave in the Battle Frontier. It can also be found in Altering Cave, but only in the Japanese version.

In Pokémon Mystery Dungeon, Smeargle sends out an SOS call. After the player rescues him, he reveals that he ran away because he was afraid of getting a paw print on its back for his journey to adulthood. After his clan finds him again, he joins the player's team to avoid the paw printing. He can change the flag on the player's base.

A Pokémon Emerald screenshot featuring an enemy Pupitar and Solrock fighting in a double battle against a player's Aggron and Smeargle.

Smeargle can be found hosting its own art channel on Pokémon Channel. Its nice card can be obtained after finding a certain amount of Nice Cards.

Sketch

Smeargle is notable for its "Sketch" attack technique, which is unique to Smeargle. When used, it will replace itself permanently with the last attack technique used by an opponent Pokémon against Smeargle. It learns Sketch every ten levels. There are a few attacks Sketch cannot copy, but it can learn nearly every attack in the game. It is one of the most versatile Pokémon as a result.

However, because Smeargle does not have high stats, it cannot use powerful moves very well. Therefore, it is often used as an annoyer and Baton Passer. It can put opponents to sleep and use stat-raising moves to baton pass out to other team members.

Breeding

Due to its very wide movepool, Smeargle is also very useful for breeding Pokémon for Egg Moves (moves that can only be learned by breeding). This allows players to breed their own Pokémon with custom movesets without having to use TMs and allows the learning of otherwise unlearnable moves.

In the anime

The Smeargle species was featured in the episode "The Art of Pokémon", where three of the painter Pokémon have gone out of control in Whitestone City, relentlessly graffitiing the spotless walls of its buildings while in search of inspiration. They were owned by an old painter named Jack Pollockson, an obvious reference to Jackson Pollock, a famous real-life abstract artist. Smeargle also made a minor appearance in Pichu Bros. in Party Panic on Pokémon Channel.

A single Smeargle once appeared on Pokémon Chronicles when an invisible Kecleon stole Meowth's lunch. Fortunately, a Smeargle was nearby and painted the Kecleon, making it visible.

In the manga

Several Smeargle appear in the Battle Frontier's Artisan Cave in the Emerald saga of Pokémon Adventures. Knowing full-well of Smeargle's Sketch move, Noland takes the other Frontier Brains to Artisan Cave to find out if Jirachi had been there previously. Noland's hunch proves true; three Smeargle had Sketched Jirachi's glowing aura.

In the card game

Smeargle has appeared as a basic stage colorless type Pokémon in the following expansions:

• Neo Discovery (2 cards, One Holofoil)
• Aquapolis
• Promo Book Card
• EX: Unseen Forces

The Promo Book Card was banned from professional tournaments due to Smeargle's Paint attack, which could change the Defending Pokémon's type.

References

• The following games and their instruction manuals: Pokémon Red, Green, and Blue; Pokémon Yellow; Pokémon Stadium and Pokémon Stadium 2; Pokémon Gold, Silver, and Crystal; Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald; Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen; Pokémon Colosseum and Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness

Publications

• Barbo, Maria. The Official Pokémon Handbook. Scholastic Publishing, 1999. ISBN 0-439-15404-9.
• Loe, Casey, ed. Pokémon Special Pikachu Edition Official Perfect Guide. Sunnydale, CA: Empire 21 Publishing, 1999. ISBN 1-930206-15-1.
• Nintendo Power. Official Nintendo Pokémon FireRed & Pokémon LeafGreen Player’s Guide. Nintendo of America Inc., August 2004. ISBN 1-930206-50-X
• Mylonas, Eric. Pokémon Pokédex Collector’s Edition: Prima’s Official Pokémon Guide. Prima Games, September 21 2004. ISBN 0-7615-4761-4
• Nintendo Power. Official Nintendo Pokémon Emerald Version Player’s Guide. Nintendo of America Inc., April 2005. ISBN 1-930206-58-5

External links

• Official Pokémon website
• Bulbapedia (a Pokémon-centric Wiki)’s article about Smeargle as a species
• Template:Serebiidex
• Pokémon Dungeon Pokédex entry, full of statistics analysis
• PsyPoke - Smeargle Pokédex entry and Usage Overview
• Smogon.com - Smeargle Tactical Data
• Template:WikiKnowledge